First, play the World Chess Software Championship (where all entries complete on identical hardware). The winning X entries qualify for the World Computer Chess Championship which can use whatever hardware they want.

Good points: the WCSC is typically at a faster time control and happens on a weekend normally, reducing hotel expenses. And makes things a bit more like the Human Championship where they need to qualify from earlier matches. If WCSC was somehow done on the internet, it could be done pretty cheaply since only the qualifying entries need to travel.

The bad: it rules out special hardware (like Deep Blue)
It shortens the event. A nice things about these events is the exchange of ideas. People who travel from far away would not know how long to book the travel.